Tours and Travel Books

Although dated this is a useful guide for people who wish to independently explore Alaskan tourist ports .

What a fantastic guide for Alaska cruisers!!! This book helped us make the most of our time in the ports of call.

We took this book with us to each port that we went to and were able to find a number of little off-the-beaten-path treasures as a result. The book gives detailed directions that even the directionally-impaired (like myself) can follow, and offers street names, landmarks, and amounts of walking time in order to assist you in getting from place to place.

In our case, our scheduled shore excursion in Juneau was canceled, so we just set out with the book. We got to see parts of Juneau that nobody else on our tour saw, and really enjoyed getting to know the city better. Some of the port towns in Alaska are very touristy, and this allowed us to plot out our own routes that would take us away from the crowds to see some of the lesser-known but just as fun landmarks. In both Juneau and Ketchikan, we found this book invaluable. I highly recommend it for anyone planning a cruise to Alaska - and especially for those who are doing it on a budget. By touring Juneau on our own instead of through a ship-planned shore excursion, we saved nearly five hundred dollars. Great book.

Not too much, not too little and good fun.

This cute little book is easy to read, and full of all the right kinds of stuff. I didn't have to waste time sussing things out on my own. I knew what to expect before I got to each location, and when I did arrive I knew what to do every step of the way.

Good on ya, Julianne Chase .. great book!

Sure, Alaskan Cruise Ships offer guided shore excursions which usually entail a bus tour. But Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Sitka are all so much better on foot!

If you decide to check out these ports of call at your own pace, be sure to get this great little book. I loved it because it fit right in my pocket. The maps were easy to follow, simple to understand, and the advice was right on the mark. It's ideal --especially if you're on a limited time schedule. The author even suggests a few terrific dining spots in each town. She also notes them again with a knife and fork icon right in the text description of the tour, so you can't miss them as you go along.

You'll be sure to enrich your Alaskan cruise if you bring this book!

The great thing about this book (and Rick Steves' other books) is that he views Europe as most of us do--not as an expert or an authority, but as an explorer. This book helps you to get to the "good stuff" at these huge museums, so you can spend a couple of hours there, and then get outside and enjoy other sights. It was especially helpful in Paris where you get tours of the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Notre Dame, Versailles and others. You'll also notice a number of other travellers with the same book, laughing at the same observations you will be. Enjoy!

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who is planning to go to the 'big' museums in Europe and doesn't know a lot about art. My husband and I used the section on St Peter's Cathedral and had an absolute hoot!! Not only did we enjoy Rick's writing style, but we felt like we had a friend along to point out the highlights and give us a sense of what we were looking at. We've already planned our next trip to Paris around the sections on the Louve, Versailles, and Musee d'Orsay. Buy this book!!! Last note -- I know he recommends you pass over the chapters to other as you leave the museum but I just couldn't bring myself to do it -- found myself keeping them so I can pass on to friends for their visits.

I met some girls in Rome who had this book and wound up traveling around Europe with them for awhile and I swear it was partly because they had this book. No other travel guide will give you quite the insight this book will. You can't look at every piece of art in every museum and have it be meaningful, but this book will show and tell you the best stuff to see and give you a few laughs along the way. Get it!

Rick Steves takes the vast museums of Euope and tells you how to navigate them to see the good things and not waste time on the mediocre. The book is a joy to read. My wife and I tear out the sections covering the museums we are visiting so we do not have to carry the entire volume. This is a very entertaining book. -- FJD

This book was useful to get the overview of what museums are the most well-known, and the information as to location and opening hours was useful. Beyond that, I can't recommend this book for anyone with a college education and an interest in art. I went to europe with no background in art history, and found the taped headsets in the Louvre and other museums (Musee D'Orsay, the Uffizi, Vatican museum) to be so much more informative, without any technical language or tedious narrative. I would recommend that you save your money to buy a book on the artist(s) or period that most takes you fancy after visiting the museums!

Good book! Lots of info and great colored photos. Anyone interested in American architecture and history will enjoy this book. It's helpful to read about a particular house before going to visit it, and it's fun to read about it again after you've seen it. Recommend. Booklady

If you need a guide of historic buildings that are not described in common books of architectural history, buy this book. It works as well as a guide as an introduction to american architectural history. If you are not already an historian this pocket sized book with it's short descriptions and representative pictures will probably greatly extend your interest in american architectural history.

We bought this book and have toured three homes so far. We found the book invaluable! It gives fantastic descriptions and points out what grand houses we would like to most visit. At Marble House, we enjoyed the most f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s butter cookies! But Marci (with and 'i') and I are on the Atkins high protein diet and could only have three. We each had one and split the third. D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s! Word of caution for those visiting the Biltmore house in Ashville, North Carolina...if you happen to drive a Range Rover and happen to have two Legnanos (hand-made Italian bicycles) on the roof rack (a $650 option on a Range Rover, I'll have you know!:o)), DON'T drive under the grape arbor! Marci was shaking so badly with anger that she dumped grape juice in her lap -- not funny. But within a few miles she was okay and we were able to laugh it off. I swear our premiums went up by $200. After a long trip, it was nice to get back to San Diego. "Elsa", our Range Rover managed to get about 17 miles to the gallon...not bad for a $60,000 SUV! We hope you enjoy this book as much as we do. We're looking forward to writing more reviews as we visit more houses!

I enjoyed reading this book, I found the text quite interesting and the pictures where vivid and well framed. The authors did a commendable job of choosing the houses for the book, many of the mansions are famous, many where not, but all had an interesting story. I was surprised to see how many homes where covered, considering that it is not a large book, you really do get a nice bang for you buck so to speak. If you are someone who just wants a quick synopsis on lots of great American houses then I don't think you will be disappointed in this book, just realize that many homes are covered and as such, not a lot of time can be spent on each home.

I am 10 years old and I got this book as a present from my parents. I am a big huge fan of old things and this was the perfect book for me. If you like historical things like huge houses and fancy dresses this is the book to get. It lists a ton of houses - over 150!! So far we have gone to the biltmore estate (INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!) and plan on going to the hearst castle and others. I highly recommend this book for great family trips. It also notes important things like websites, phone numbers,gift shops, etc. I love this book!

Used an earlier edition of this book when I took a self-guided tour in 1997, and bought this newer edition for my trip to L.A. in 2007. Indispensible! Better than a "map of the stars' homes" any day. Thoroughly recommended if you are planning to drive yourself around the various parts of L.A. looking for your particular favorite haunts. Thanks to this book, in 1997 I got to see (and exchange waves with) Jack Lemmon as he drove out of his driveway (no, I wasn't lying in wait. I'd pulled over to double check my location).

Though I had far less time to use it on my 2007 trip, I would have felt naked and unprepared just travelling without it. Another great feature about this book is that the author encourages submissions/corrections/additions to add to future editions, so if you discover the rare incorrect or out-of-date piece of info, he wants you to submit it to him so the next edition will be just that much more accurate.

Used the info in the book to track down the Playboy Mansion in 1997. Had a neat experience at the mansion gates that trip and have pics to prove it. When I drove by it again in 2007 a few hours before I was to attend a party there that evening, I glanced at the book over in the passenger seat of my rental car and gave it a knowing smile.

My copy is autographed. Don't know if that increases its value, but it is a nice touch.

The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book is full of interesting facts, historical tidbits and interviews with Hollywood natives that provide readers with a realistic view of Hollywood, past and present. As any worthwhile tour guide should, this book lists hundreds of locations of interest to visit in and around the Hollywood area, extending it's reach to surrounding Los Angeles communities that have ties to the entertainment business. However, the tone of Gordon's book is informative, straightforward and friendly, not off-putting or intentionally misleading, as some guide books can be.

Not surprisingly, Gordon's book is even a fun read for those of us born and raised in Hollywood. For me it brought back memories of old haunts, and it evoked nods of approval among friends as we read through many accurate descriptions of favorite locales and pages of sound advice about what to visit and why, as well as what to avoid.

Whether you're a native of the Los Angeles area, a tourist planning just a few days' visit to Hollywood, or a local history buff searching for a fun and interesting book to read, you can't go wrong picking up a copy of William Gordon's Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book.

About 5 years ago I took a summer job giving tours of Hollywood on an old trolley car. One of my most memorable experiences was the day one of the guides for the Beverly Hills tour got sick and I was thrown into the front seat of a tour van and sent on my way to give a tour of the star's homes. It was without a doubt one of the more embarrassing moments of my life as it wasn't my regular gig and I had to make a lot of stuff up because I had no idea whose house was whose and the guy driving the van was as clueless as I was. But if the owner's of the tour company had seen fit to give me this book beforehand I would have known where I was and all those tourists wouldn't have asked for their money back when the tour was over.

This is a not so typical tour guide which provides its reader with a lot of bang for his/her buck. It provides information which is fairly accurate regarding the living (who tend to move quite a bit). The listings provided for death scenes are very accurate (assuming you only die once). Ditto for burial sites (assuming that remains stay put in one place.....unfortunately, that isn't always true as I seem to always be finding out). What is really impressive about the many editions of this book that have been published to date is that the author constantly updates the information in the book, so that it is as accurate as it can be given the odd and fluctuating state of celebrity mindsets (and fortunes).
So if you are willing to assume that some of the information may become outdated, you will probably enjoy this book quite a bit.

There must be 50 Hollywood homes books on the market. If you visit Beverly Hills, a tour-bus or map salesman will gladly take your money. But W. Gordon's remarkably accurate and truthful guide will spell out where the buses point out homes where movie stars never lived. Gordon provides detailed directions and maps to the sites you want to see. And loads of "goodies" and information. He shows you how to get to Arnold's palatial block of homes in Brentwood, and warns that driving there is a $ 500 fine and possible jail time! Wow! He also gives directions to Rudolph Valentino's original 1920's mansion(and much, much more). Forget the B.S. Here it is. When I e-mailed him for an up-date, he gladly provided it for free(see the book). Why waste time driving around freeways?

I didn't expect a Birnbaum or Unofficial Guide to Disney when I read this book, so unlike the negative reviewer, I was pleased with what I found.
I found this to be an interesting perspective on the parks, that didn't pull punches. I liked hearing how a teenager perceived the different
rides and attractions. This could be quite helpful if you are traveling to Disney World with teenagers.

The book is a bit outdated now, but it still had some useful information.

Im a teenager that gos down to disney world a lot and i loved this book!!!

I am 13 years old, and my brother is 15, and we are going to walt disney world this easter. We really enjoyed this book's great tips and facts. Hopefully they will come in handy!

I'm taking a youth group to Disney World this fall and bought this book along with several others. I must say I appreciate the fact that the authors gave their honest opinions about what rides are good for teens and which ones are just so-so. We have limited time in the theme parks during our visit and really need to use our time wisely, but the "official guides" we all rah-rah and "Everything is equally great." This was much more like "If you can only do five things, these are the things you should do." And, like somebody else said, it really does sound like it was written by a teenager.

Clearly the author cannot speak for her generation at all. Her reviews are biased and opinionated, and her tips offer little to no help for those unfamiliar with the Walt Disney World resort. She refers to Epcot's trademark attraction, Spaceship Earth, as a "snooze," when I have seen plenty of teenagers who having nothing but good remarks to say about the ride.

My advice: stick with "Birnbaum's Official Guide." It is suitable for WDW fans of ALL ages: from young children, through teens, honeymooners, and the elderly. It will offer you far better--and less opinionated--information.

This book is not only exremely well written but, it is also more than helpful when it comes to traveling around England.

I love the style of this book, as well as the first--the anecdotes and wit keep even a non-history-buff like me interested! We're planning a family trip to London later this year, and we're having great fun picking the sites to see and learning all the fun and interesting facts we didn't cover in history class, as well as brushing up on those we did.

If you are interested in travel sites in England, than this is the book for you. Not meant as a serious treatise on English history, it is a look at sites south of London and what is worth seeing and what you should skip. These two ladies obviously are having a great deal of fun with their writing, and when you pair this with their earlier book on Medieval and Tudor London, you have a fun, light-hearted look at one of the best places to tour on vacation - merry ol' England!

What I want in a travel guide is what I want in a good traveling companion: one that is passionate and persuasive about the journey, but not pedantic. I want one that is mindful of the economies of time (history) and distances (geography) and what can be comfortably accomplished in traversing both. Moreover, I want a guide with good cheer and that knows just the right way to pick up the pace and energy at any given moment with a touch of wit and memorable wisdom. Kettler & Trimble deliver all this...again. Their first volume of Medieval & Tudor London firmly established their credentials and "Days Trips South of London" proves they are no one-hit wonders. Even if you prefer solitary travel, I cannot imagine a more fitting duo to accompany you. Their real charm lies in that rare balance of being highly organized and efficient, yet deceptively spontaneous in spirit. What a way to go...and come back.

With all due respect to "pink-slipped-arizonian," as far as I'm concerned this guidebook (and the one that preceeded it by the same authors) is a marvelous work -- witty, yes, but I hardly see that as a drawback! I spent quite a bit of time teaching high school history, and believe me, if you can find a high school student who knows 1/3 of what this book imparts, then it is one who has a real fascination with history and has made it a deliberate area of study. This guidebook is intelligent, full of useful practical information, replete with accurate basic knowledge of British history and stuffed with intriguing details and fascinating trivia. I have been studying Tudor history for over 20 years, and this book delves into some of the more obscure bits from that and many other eras. I reviewed this book and its predecessor for Renaissance Magazine (see the upcoming August issue) and stand behind every word I wrote in those reviews. These two books are excellent, and I give them an unalloyed five stars, the highest possible recommendation.

I found this book very informative with information on the history of an area as well as sites to vist, what to look for on walking tours or hikes, and where to shop, spend the night, or eat. I especially liked the references to native-made art. However, I also purchased "Best Places Alaska" by Don Pitcher and the books are virtually identical (they even use the same phrases to describe a place). I would recommend either of these books but not both.

I used this book to plan almost all aspects to our two week Alaska vacation which we have just gotten back from. And this book was the very best to give you the means to get off the beaten tourist path and see and experience the true Alaska. It is by far the very best tool. People asked us how we saw and experience so much in such a short time and I tell them it's because of this book and doing our home work.

I purchases this book as a guide for planning a vacation Alaska for a family that has never been to Alaska. It has met my purposes very well.

Very informative and has helped us make decisions on where to go and where not to go on our trip to Alaska this summer.

Very good and complete information on Alaska. It would be better if there were maps in color and pictures.

Warner's guide is the premiere resource for bikers who are contemplating the Natchez Trace Parkway. We just finished an abbreviated tour (you can't plan the weather) and found the guide to be a reliable resource for historical sites, terrain, lodging, and the miscellaneous details important to the long-distance biker. There have been some changes in the cities in regards to lodging and dining options but overall there are more options, not less. This guide is highly recommended and we look forward to using it again for our next adventure.

The book is well written with a lot of important details about the trail.

The author obviously has spent considerable time riding the Trace and in surrounding areas. As a result, the book serves as a useful complement to the literature available from the National Park Service on the Natchez Trace. However, the most important document that a Trace traveler needs is a Natchez Trace Parkway Map and Guide from the Park Service.

The author briefly describes the historical significance of many of the landmarks along the Trace. Of great interest to bicylists is the lay of the land (hills) which is well described. Most importantly, one can find the location of food and water and lodging just off of the Trace, that is, not managed by the Park service. The Trace itself has insufficient restroom and water stops for the bicyclist. A minor point is that the author does not indicate the hours of operation of the markets that he notes. The author notes the great amount of wildlife on the Trace; but keep a sharp eye for the snakes sunning themselves on the Trace in warm weather.

Most all of the practical advice in the book is related either to logistics or to various routes. Where and how to ship one's bike is useful. About 40 percent of the book is taken up with auxiliary routes that either start or cross the Trace and are not a part of traveling the Trace from end to end. Multi-day tours through Vicksburg and around the Tennessee River are two of those. Most of these may appeal to local residents.

Throughout the book the author mentions various rules and regulations of the Trace. Although there is a brief section, it would have been useful to see a section with a complete listing: for example, rules for speed limits, parking, picnicing, camping, hiking, etc.

What one will not find in this book is much in the way of practical and general information about bicycling or touring on a bike - what gearing to use, how to pack gear on a bike, how to ride with a fully loaded bike, what is the best way to deal with bicycle problems while on the Trace, etc. One point of interest is that the author provides an 1-800 number that can be called in the case of problems; interestingly the park service does a poor job of signage concerning this number.

The bottom line is that the book would help anyone comtemplating a tour of the Trace to get a better feel for what he or she can expect on the Trace.

The terrain and weather are benign, and the logistical issues are straightforward.

Others have commented that the author assumes readers will know how to pack a bike and how to undertake simple repairs. I think Wanner's omission is a positive feature--there are other books that do these jobs thoroughly.

Bicycling the Natchez Trace excels with the great number of side trips described, which will be most useful for locals who are able to periodically re-visit the Trace.

For all of that, Wanner's book doesn't "speak" to me as a cycle tourist; his rhythms and pace do not closely approximate my own. Experienced tourists will understand my comment, and I would encourage beginning bikers to read other books by other authors to discover which ones work best them. For me, Nadine Slavinski works well.

Well written, accurate usable advice for bikers. The historic facts as well as geography ( mileage to stores, attractions, facilities) were right on the money. I used the book to do the northern 125 miles of the trace. I am preparing for a southbound ride next and will use this book.
john

I purchased this volume, unread, as a gift. Therefore, I cannot offer first-hand testimony (hence, my four stars). The recipient, however, vouches for its accuracy and usefulness.

My wife and I wanted to travel with our Newfoundland dog. No small feat! I read the reviews of this book and decided to try it for myself. I have just returned from 8 days in Kennebunk, Kittery, Bar Harbr ME and Newport RI. The suggested places to stay were teriffic. Clean, roomy enough and very very hospitable. The places to eat and go were also uniformly great! While these were not 5 star resorts, the owners get 5 stars for opening their places to a gateful family! GET THIS BOOK!

We took our two dogs to Canada and used this to navigate the northeast. Highly highly recommended.

This is a great book, we have dogs and love to travel. This book gives us a wonderful list of places to stay and other information.
Thank you,
Jane

Dog-Friendly New England is a well-organized travel guide for those of us who can't think of travelling without our dog. The book is organized by region,
and each region is rated for its "dog-friendliness."
This book is fun to read when you're just trying to plan a New England trip.
It offers just the right amount of information, with capsule reviews of lodging establishments, restaurants, and attractions. You can probably plan your whole trip to New England based on the recommendations in this book.

These guides have the best pictures! I don't take them with me though. Too heavy and not as practical as other guides like Rick Steve's. They are great for reading up on your future destination though. Amazon always has them at a good price(as they are not cheap brand new)and it doesn't matter if you buy a used one or one that is a few years old. There's no admission prices in them anyway.

I used this book as my guide travelling around Munich and I can strongly recommended it to others. The layout of the book is clear and logical which makes choosing destinations and getting there easy. The maps in the book are all in full colour, as always in this series, showing roads as well as public transport routes. Countless illustrations enrich the reading - each carefully drawn so as to say more than a thousand words found in other guides. The choice of restaurants, hotels etc were all great picks. I managed to find a couple of real gems of restaurants in the recommended list here. I can assure that speaking from personal experience: you can use this book with complete confidence!

If you are going to Munich or travelling around Bavaria then this is without doubt the finest guide that you will find. Have a great trip!

If you're planning on spending just a few days in Munich, then this compact little guide will be indispensible in locating the famous beerhalls and tourist sights. The maps are more than adequate and the walking descriptions to each locale are precise and accurate. There is also corresponding material on how to use the U-Bahn in the city and which station to take for each particular site. There is a separate chapter on the beerhalls of the city with a brief ranking system for the nosiest places, the friendliest, the cheapest beer, etc.

If you're planning a lengthy sojourn in Munich or if you already know the city well, then this book would not be as helpful. It is basically intended for the casual tourist and the information on the intriguing environs of Munich, including Bogenhausen, Haidhausen and areas of Schwabing, is not detailed. Many of the best sites are neglected because most tourists don't want to bother or simply don't have the time to stick around. The chapters on Berchtesgaden and Garmisch are excellent, however. So this is a thrifty guide you can stick in your pocket and consult when you need to find a restaurant, beer haunt or hotel. In short, if you're a first timer to Munich, enjoy the greatest city in Europe and be sure to tuck away this guide.

...I can affirm the genuine worth of this book. The maps are convenient, easy to use, and marvelously clear. Furthermore, the organization of the guide is wonderfully helpful in assisting the traveler (or resident, as the case may be) in finding cultural destinations, culinary spots, that may have otherwise been missed.

This guide is, like most all of the Dorling-Kindersley series, geared toward helping the traveler ascertain what things might be of particular sightworthiness. Unlike the Michelin guides, this isn't particularly into the business of rating destinations, and it certainly isn't going to provide the standard domestic AAA guide service of pointing the traveler toward "hot" restaurants. For a diverse, wonderfully cosmopolitan city, this guide provides a marvelous introduction, and though it neglects a few potential interests in outlying regions, does an admirable job of hitting all the highlights, and even including pictures of most.

The material was current as of late spring 2003.

If you are planning a trip to southern Germany this book is a must. It covers Munich very well but the real impressive part is the Alps. No matter where you are going in the Alps this book will be helpful. The pictures are wonderful and it makes a great coffee table book when you get home. Highly recommend.